Investors focus on U.S. financials

Economic growth slows in ChinaThe chase by Marty Cej:It was a tough week for North American stocks last week, but I'm back now. European stocks are mostly higher and U.S. index futures are pointing to early gains Monday as investors look for confirmation that U.S. consumers continue to spend and corporate balance sheets -- especially the banks' -- are stronger than they were a year ago. U.S. retail sales kick off the week's economic data points while Citigroup may set the tone today for a handful of heavyweight financials' earnings from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley through the week.Citigroup said a few moments ago that first-quarter net profit dipped 2 percent to 95 cents a share, missing the $1 US average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. However, if you strip out a $1.3 billion credit valuation adjustment, or CVA, the company earned $1.11 per share. Frances says she will explain all this to me later. The headline number was enough to whittle a few points of stock index futures, however.In Canada, the focus for the week will be on tomorrow's rate announcement from the Bank of Canada. No change to the rate is expected but BoC Governor Mark Carney may try to reinforce his warning to Canadian households that debt levels are too high and that rates must rise sometime, perhaps sooner than many Canadians expect. Carney must also acknowledge that the European debt crisis continues to threaten and austerity measures abroad will weigh on growth for quarters and years to come. He is also likely to point out that China's growth is slowing and that the U.S. recovery remains tepid at best. Convincing Canadians that they should prepare for higher interest rates in the absence of economic growth robust enough to warrant higher rates will be a challenge.China has loosened its grip ever so slightly on the yuan, allowing the currency to swing 1 percent higher or lower from the government-set daily "parity" rate compared with a band of 0.5 percent that has been in place since 2007. The question is whether this is a big deal or not and currency traders and strategists appear uncertain. The fact is, trading in the yuan rarely tested the previous 0.5 percent band so why would it test the limits of the new band? Does the widening of the band signal a swifter move to a free-floating currency or is it just an easy, pain-free way to muzzle China's currency critics?We're also watching earnings from Gannett, Mattel and Charles Schwab.

Equedia: Just when you thought it was safe...

Just when you thought it was safe...

This past week, the S&P 500 posted its first back-to-back weekly drop in 2012. European stocks continued to fall for the fourth straight week - the longest streak since last August.

Crude capped its fifth weekly decline since February as China's economic growth slowed to the least in almost three years.

China is the second largest consumers of oil - second only to the United States.

During this sideways market, investing becomes a chore. You can clean up, but the dust keeps piling up. Regardless of fundamentals, the prices of stocks may not be a direct correlation to the performance of its company. As I watch the news, be it CNBC or Bloomberg, all I hear are these so-called experts telling investors which way the market is going.

If the news is positive, they tell us the market is going up. If the news is negative, they tell us its going down. But the truth is, they have no idea. No one does. The market still hasn't decided which way it's going.

One week it's up. The next week it's down.
With the political drama that's about to unfold in the US and the European debt woes continuing to plague the global markets, making short term bets on the market is simply just that - a bet. You're better off heading to the casino.

Profits in the market are becoming tough and the only reason we still have a market to play is because hedge funds and algo-traders are desperate to make a return. They are churning the market for whatever they can get. Volume continues to be light on all markets and positive retail buying sentiment just isn't there.

Overall, I am sitting on the sidelines. But that doesn't mean I am not playing it. My portfolio is shrinking but I am accumulating and looking for bargains on many of the junior to mid-cap precious metal stocks. Many of them are bottoming or have already bottomed, which means a lot of them could easily double before the year is over.

I will once again be looking at purchases in the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) - perhaps as early as next week. (I also continue to like silver and expect a breakout and much higher prices within the next few months. iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) would be worth looking into.)

Both of our featured companies this year are up, while most of its peers are down.

MAG Silver (TSX: MAG) (NYSE: MVG) has become one of the strongest silver performers in N. American markets this year, up over 40% since early January. It's up more than 23% since our initial coverage back in February.

Abzu Gold (TSX-V: ABS) (OTCQX: ABZUF) is now up 62.5% since our report last week (click to see). However, it still remains undervalued and extremely cheap ($C0.26) relative to where they have been since they started trading (C$1.20 at its peak, with a 52-week high of C$0.80). Even with the recent climb, sellers in Abzu's market remain minimal and that means minimal buying in the market could force Abzu higher - as it has just done this past week. We never know who might show up to sell, but so far it seems there are some bigger hands willing to take shares at these prices.

All warrants in Abzu are above C$0.40. There are 10 million warrants at C$0.40 which just expired last week and management has never exercised or sold any warrants.

(Other warrants include 2.88 million at $0.90 due Aug. 15th, 2012, 200K at $0.60 due Nov. 30, 2014)

I am seeing a lot more precious metal juniors bottoming out, but I don't expect this to last much longer. I don't see any other sector with a better discount and that means there's an opportunity to pick up cheap shares. You can bet I'll be looking for them.

What About Gold Prices?

The S&P 500 had its best Q1 gain since 1998 sending U.S. stocks above gold by the most in more than a decade. The S&P 500 climbed 12 percent, 5.3 percentage points more than gold for the widest gap to start a year since 1999, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While gold has not performed nearly as well as the S&P this year, that is about to change.

As the stock market moves up, it gives the ultimate illusion that everything is better and people begin to accept that the economy is recovering. While I believe the market will eventually tell the tale, I don't believe that everything is better. And the market is once again showing us the future, as stocks fell in back-to-back weeks.

With the volatility of the stock market back and a negative sentiment brewing, we should soon see gold move up again - as it did last week.

Those forcing the price of gold down are beginning to lose the battle and we're seeing the bulls overpower them once again. If this continue, gold could easily bounce back to US$1800 in a short period of time.

My target hasn't changed. Gold at US$2000/oz is achievable - especially if we get QE3.

Further monetization of debt is inevitable. That means the fiat system will slowly breakdown and real assets such as real estate, gold, silver, diamonds, commodities, and collectibles will be the only true form of wealth preservation.

Those hanging onto too much cash in the long haul will see their purchasing power deplete and much of their wealth destroyed. For now, cash is king as it allows you to profit from undervalued stocks in the precious metals sector. So make your gains now and prepare for a long period of currency consolidation.

Ivan LoEquedia Weekly